


Ex Lege Libertas

by Tajmah



Category: Green Lantern (Comics), Green Lantern - All Media Types, Justice League - All Media Types, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: OC Green Lantern, even looser with international law, not to mention the UN bodies because no way am I going to untangle that, playing fast and lose with international and UN politics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:48:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23479477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tajmah/pseuds/Tajmah
Summary: “You don’t have to do this, ms Esfahani.” he finally said.“No,” she said. She thought of green rings, blinding light and the oath that came with it, “I think I do.”Mostly based on the universe of Young Justice (Cartoon) with some adjustments.
Relationships: family relationships mainly
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	Ex Lege Libertas

”I’m a legal officer, not an investigator.”

“You were in Congo a few years back.”

“As a legal officer.”

He leaned forward, “yes, I spoke to Mark about that.”

She leaned back and stretched her fingers. 

Mark. 

Of course. 

He waited for her to reply, but she wasn’t going to do that. Considering why she was here, in this office, it wasn’t hard to guess what Mark had told him. “He told me some interesting things about his investigation of the murders. Most interesting was your work with it.” She took a sip of the coffee. It was decent, for Central Europe, but still a little too hot. “It caused quite the uproar.”

She resisted the urge to snort. It caused the near exit of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from the UN and a mass close down of several embassies. She, like all UN workers, had been declared persona non grata and shipped back to Europe and North America respectively in one fellow swoop. She didn’t mind. She rather preferred being back in Europe to behind a bush with her head cut off somewhere in Mai-Ndombe. Instead, she glanced at the wall on their right and took another sip. “I suppose that’s one way to put it,” she said. The wall was filled with diplomas and framed photographs. She recognized several past and current heads of state. The world was a small place for its leaders. 

“You were also involved in Bialya, before that.”

Her eyes shifted back to his immediately. She fought against a sneer. It was always _Bialya_. 

He didn't smile. He had wanted her attention, “Your name hasn’t been dropped in the investigations, but your contributions aren’t unknown to some of us.”

He was a Justice League contact, then. She should have known. “I worked as a legal officer in both Bialya and Congo, sir.” She said evenly, tucking away her reservations for a later time, “even if what you say is true, the public would hardly accept me, an unknown young woman, as the head investigator of such high profile case. You should give the job to an experienced investigator.”

“All cases are high profile, Ms Esfahani,” he dismissed, “that, and all the experienced investigators left are in Luthor’s pocket.”

“Julia Weber isn’t.”

“Julia Weber is dead.”

There it was. The cold feeling of loss settled in her belly. He finally looked flustered. She almost felt bad for making him say it out loud, but she had an inkling this was the case when she got the call in the early hours of the morning.

“Cause of death?”

He wasn’t happy with her tone, but his stare wasn’t quite a glare. He couldn't possibly know how used she was to death. Her cold reaction probably seemed odd to him, perhaps even insulting. He must have decided it didn't matter what was going on in her head though, as he ended up sighing, “The train accident, yesterday evening.” He sounded defeated. 

Her fingers clenched around the cup before relaxing again. 6 dead and 114 injured. Most likely because Lex Luthor wanted to be sure the case would be handled by one of his own, ensuring the UN investigation would turn out in his favour. A sham. Like the one in Congo, before. An old fury filled her gut at the thought. 

He leaned even further into his chair and wiped his forehead. His eyes weren’t on her anymore but on the pictures on the wall. Julia Weber was on one of the pictures at the far left. The frame was small and the picture less saturated than the others. They were both younger there. 

“I don’t want to someone on risk like this,” he stated earnestly, “but at this rate, Mr Luthor might actually become general secretary of the UN general assembly. We need an unbiased investigation. And I heard-…” he drew a hand over his face. Guilt, maybe. “I heard you weren’t afraid, of that sort of danger.”

She took a big sip of coffee before replying. It had finally cooled to her preferred temperature, “I’m not.”

He looked at her again. The death of Julia Weber had been a blow, she could tell. His eyes were somewhat swollen from lack of sleep. It was likely he had spent all night finding an acceptable substitute. He must have some history with Mark to trust his word so impeccably he’d call her up based on it. Perhaps Mark had been a league contact as well. Her stomach clenched at the thought. 

“I never said I wasn’t going to take the case. I just wanted it to be clear why and the risks.” She said plainly. “Though I’m still curious as to how you’re going to explain the fact that you’re giving the job to a legal officer with no formal experience with internal investigation.”

He smiled. It was a tight smile, but perhaps also grateful. “I will let some things leak, and some things not.” He said, “He’s popular enough the general public will not see anything wrong with a less experienced investigator. They’re not expecting any shocking conclusions anyway.” He spread his arms, “and those of consequence that doesn’t like him will be tentative to object since they would suspect this is a way to avoid corrupt investigators. Which it is.”

She nodded. “And Luthor?”

The guilt was back. “It would cause suspicion for two investigators to die. But he will try to get to you. I heard you don’t have much family?”

Another reason she was chosen, she assumed. “No. No economic difficulties either, and no other close relationships.”

“It will give you some time. Threats to your person will be the last resort, and he’ll wait until he’s gotten a grasp of your character.”

“I suppose he’ll find my connection to Bialya and Congo if it's as known within the UN, as you seem to imply.”

“He’ll find it, but not immediately.” He replied, “he will probably have someone make contact with you early on however, if not personally.”

“That’s fine,” she said. Because it was. Playing the polite and slightly starstruck girl wasn’t hard. If he thought she was incapable of doing a proper investigation it would benefit her personal safety greatly. “I’ll play along.” Even if he saw right through her and found out the details of what happened in both Bialya and Congo he would still underestimate her, she was sure. Her resume was longer than anyone in the UN had the means to dig out. She would manage. 

She finished her coffee in silence. He was studying her, perhaps judging if she was sincere, and really as calm about the situation as she seemed. 

“You don’t have to feel guilty, Under-Secretary-General Mendoza,” she said, once the cup was empty. “You’re putting yourself at risk as well. You have two more years in office, there’s a big risk he’ll come after you too, now that you’ve openly worked against him.” she hadn’t missed the family picture on his desk.

“You don’t have to do this, ms Esfahani.” he finally said. 

“No,” she said. She thought of green rings, blinding light and the oath that came with it, “I think I do.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is my baby born from my love of DC, in particular the Green Lanterns, and international law. It starts somewhere in the middle of Maryam's journey, and what exactly happened before this point will be revealed as the story progresses. Admittedly it won't actually contain a lot of real law or politics, but I thought it would be fun to apply comic logic to it and have a character navigate it. I'm only doing this for my own enjoyment, and while I do hope some will enjoy it with me, I'm not looking for constructive criticism and will not reply to such. Thank you for reading!


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